Lake Forest Works to Increase Parking Enforcement

After a discussion of parking-related issues in Lake Forest at the November 21 City Council meeting, the City will move forward with hiring two part-time Parking Control Officers ("PCO"). 

Lake Forest contracts with the Orange County Sheriff's Department ("OCSD") for general law enforcement and parking enforcement services. Parking enforcement is primarily handled by Community Services Officers ("CSO"), who patrol and issue parking citations and handle the citation appeal process. The agreement with OCSD includes five CSOs, however, only three of the five positions are filled due to recruitment and retention issues. 

The lack of staff has led to a drop in parking citations and a rise in complaints from residents. To combat this issue, the City implemented in the Strategic Plan the in-house parking enforcement program, which consists of two part-time PCOs that will help mitigate the shortfall created by the lack of CSO staffing and enforce street sweeping parking restrictions, neighborhood permit parking, and illegal parking. The OCSD will remain the sole administrator of the City's citation review process. 

The estimated first-year cost to establish the enforcement program in-house is $109,000, which covers the part-time salaries of the two PCOs and the purchase of a parking vehicle. The City's 2023-2025 Operating Budget includes sufficient funding to cover the program's cost in Fiscal Year 2023-24. 

Lake Forest PCOs will follow the same enforcement strategy implemented by the OCSD CSOs. The City aims to change behavior of motorists through the in-house parking program, not issue more citations. A public information campaign regarding Lake Forest parking regulations will be rolled out in January 2024. Watch the City's social media channels for updates.